About as good as Mario's Super Picross, which is to say not very. I like how the archaeology aesthetic lends itself to the hardware limitations of the Game Boy when you play it in grayscale, and I've always appreciated the explorer Mario design, though the controls and tiny game board are still quite uncomfortable to deal with.

A quality title through and through, Wario Land 4 examines the strengths and weaknesses of the series in all of their totality and streamlines the experience significantly. The levels are more focused and in lower quantity. The pacing is quicker. Wario's movement is more malleable. The reaction abilities are handled a lot more tactfully. The bosses provide a fun level of challenge, and the increased screen width makes the enemies fair and manageable. Most notable of the new additions to the game, however, are the frog switches. Although hardly a threat with how generous the amount of time you're given to exit each stage is, the many ways that Wario's movement can be harnessed for speed as well as the familiarity that's established after already venturing through the stages once make them a fun, welcome and unique challenge. While less remarkable than the gameplay, the presentation of Wario Land 4 is also something that I am favourable to. Somehow predating the WarioWare series, Wario Land 4 falls right in line with the surreal style of that series with it's heavy usage of strange vocal samples, an off-kilter art direction and an incredibly goofy and experimental soundtrack. Wario being forced into the position of a (somewhat) reluctant protagonist and Princess Shokora's true form being that of an unconventional beauty are also aspects that I am fond of. It adds a level of depth to the character that hasn't been seen before or since. While overall greater than sum of it's parts, many of my gripes with Wario Land 4 concern that of it's the design philosophy, and how it negates some aspects of the series that I consider crucial. The exploration in Wario Land 1 still stands as the best in the series. Losing coins as a primary form of damage like in Wario Land 2 is still the best way of punishing the player, and the ending to the game should be directly influenced by how many coins and treasures you collect in the stages, not by how fast it takes you to defeat the bosses. The alternate routes that some of the frog switches create are great, though I also wish that there were more of them as a way of catching the player off guard.

Of the Wario Land GB/C trilogy, this one has the most going for it. The reduced level count, concentrated levels, non-linear progression and alternate routes are all very unique and good. However, the ideas that Wario Land 3 ditches from the previous entries leaves it in a catastrophically bad state. Wario Land 3 has a penchant for wasting your time. The reaction abilities have no way of being easily canceled. Bosses will force you to replay portions of the level should you take a single hit. The enemy placement is cheap on many occasions, and the knockback from said enemies is obnoxiously far. The decision to punish you with monotony rather than the loss of coins like in Wario Land 2 is such a betrayal of what the series had built it's identity on - the necessity of stacking cash. Most egregious, however, is how heavily deadlocked the game is. Virtually all of the chests in this game are locked behind other chests as a form of prerequisite, which can easily become impossible to keep track of should you not consult the temple after each stage. Such deadlocking also extends to Wario's moveset, which is such an unbelievably shit decision. God damn it, Nintender. For all that is abhorrent with this game, it didn't stop me from seeing Wario Land 3 through to completion like the sucker I am, which can't exactly be said about the other games. Next up on the agenda is Wario Land 4, which I've both already played and enjoyed greatly. It's honestly very on brand and in character for the fourth time to be the charm with this series. Wario's fashionably late, as always.

A game I respect for rising far above the calling of what a Donkey Kong Game Boy entry should be. There are so many nice tweaks and details that DKGB has - most notably the inclusion of Mario 64 movement in a title that somehow predates the beginning of that game's development. The bait and switch with the beginning of this game and the between-level cutscenes are also great. Where I find that the game comes apart stems from my natural interest in Donkey Kong, as well as how this game made the jump to a handheld. The concentrated, vertical level design of the arcade games have been traded for larger, horizontal stages with mechanics reminiscent of more traditional platformers. Mario's movement in Donkey Kong is naturally unsuited to this design, being incredibly slow and, at times, imprecise. Having to micromanage a rapidly despawning key was also a huge detriment to my enjoyment of many of the levels. As such, the stages which deviated from the arcade formula the least were unfortunately the stages that I wound up having the most fun with.

An improvement, yet also a step back from the first game. The removal of powerups and a traditional lives system were much-needed tweaks. The special abilities being relegated to enemies are a fun and welcome addition, and Wario controls a hell of a lot better in this. Where the game unfortunately comes apart is in how deathly boring it is. The levels are a lot larger and much more vertical, which doesn't gel with Wario's abilities, and there aren't nearly enough ideas in this game to warrant it's 52-level run. The removal of treasures that require skill and an attention to detail in order to collect is probably the greatest vice of this game, and a massive point in the favour of Wario Land 1. Anyways, next up on the agenda is Wario Land III. I've heard the game being described as a blend of the strong points from I and II, so I'm really hoping the next one sticks the landing.

Very strange and unprofessional of Nintendo to release a Japanese game internationally without paying some intern $2.50 to throw together a rudimentary translation, but I can understand why. The content of the game is a huge missed opportunity. The zany and colourful vibe of the Mario series could have leant itself to some genuinely exciting puzzles and a memorable visual presentation, but the finished product is all very sterile and droll, much like every other picross game under the sun. The picross loop itself is fun, though I gotta dock some points for the microscopic game board and the absence of many features now standard in picross games. There are no repeat levels, though, so that simultaneously puts this game a million years ahead and behind of modern picross titles

I wanted to like this game. Wario is my favourite character in the Mario universe and I've always found the Mario spinoff titles to be a thousand times more entertaining, characterful and interesting than the parent series they belong to, but this one just puts me to sleep. Wario's meandering movement speed drags the game to one hell of a crawl, and the occasionally ruthless enemy placements and attacks can make things feel unfair at times. Exacerbating this is Wario's large hitbox, general lack of maneuverability and only being able to take two hits. On a more positive note, the exploration that the game is pushing for can be quite fun when you're using the powerups to their full effect, and the inclusion of treasures is a sweet addition that incentivises replayability. From what I've heard, these games only get better with each installment. With Wario Land 4 being a game that I've already played and found to be pretty solid, I'll proudly keep my head up and give the others a fair shot.

Going back to this years after I last played it was super reaffirming. The entire way I evaluate games has changed drastically within the last two years, yet I somehow found myself loving the exact same things that I did when I first played it. It's truly inspiring and admirable how a guy with zero experience in game development managed to produce one of the most covertly influential games ever, as well as how sincere and lovingly put together the entire experience is. Game's timeless.

A really bad game that doesn't deserve the defending that it gets. Mother 1 is outright hostile with it's poor design choices and lack of balance. Through my exposure to this game over the years, I was of the opinion that Mother 3's ending would be more gratifying had I experienced this game first, though it's so vacuous and empty that I felt like nothing was gained from playing it. On an unrelated note, I'm finally a real EarthBounder!!!!!! It's been seven whole years since I picked this game up for the first time, and I'm jubilant now that I'm finally be able to shelve this game forever. With confidence. EarthBound will always be my favourite game of all time, and I'm glad that I was able to see everything from this series through to the end. It's the least I felt that I could do with all that the games have done for me.

It's okay. I got about five hours in and felt content with all that I'd experienced. The combat is fun and different, even when coming from the Mario & Luigi games. I appreciate the effort to streamline JRPG battle conventions by making the same tiny damage values ubiquitous across all battles. The frame-perfect blocking wasn't something I was initially a fan of, but the learning curve it offers is worth it when you're able to effortlessly deflect enemy attacks. My one real complaint is that the writing seriously loses me. The witty and snappy script that this game is trying to have is actively hindered by how verbose all of the characters are, and I eventually hit a point where the script was so unstimulating that all information would just wash over me without being comprehended. My favourite parts of the game are the Peach segments, which seems to be the consensus for many people. Seeing how the good Bowser troops integrated themselves into the world of the Mushroom Kingdom was quite novel as well.

Short, sweet and well-designed. My favourite of all the Zelda's I've played, though I can't help but feel like something impedes me from fully enjoying these games. Beyond the fun exploration and addictive gameplay, everything else about the game is just barely palatable - especially the writing, which is so goddamn boring to read through. Of all the Nintendo series, Zelda is distinguished for having the most banal and drab personality - which is unfortunate considering that's exactly what I value in video games.

Game's ass, I'm right. There are no good genre definers from this console generation

Game's fun. A little too short and not something I'd actively play with the platforms it's currently available on, though

A favourite of 2022 for me, though it's just a little too high IQ for me. Some of the love puzzles in this game require that you solve the most cryptic puzzles ever made or have an inhuman level of patience. The monster soul puzzles, however, are a bit too easy. It was probably beyond what they were capable of at the time, but there's a level of simplicity to them that's just too easy and predictable. When it's good, though, it's pretty great. I love exploring and vibing around the Moon world to the MDs.

Love the aesthetic and the lighting/colours are really nice-looking. Just wish some of the stages on this thing didn't suck donkey dick. Also wish all the ships were holograms so I wouldn't keep running into other drivers at the absolute worst times.

Fuck this game. One of my favourites of all time

First game that's really made me think about the message it's trying to send rather than the aesthetic qualities that appeal to me. The story and atmosphere are pretty nice, though it draws to a conclusion much too soon and the ending qualifiers are pretty dumb. Edit: My 6-star rating ass from a few months ago is r-worded and gay. James' sudden descent into madness is justified by how deluded the constructs of his mind are and shit, and this game is hella kino. Probably the only game I've played that I regard as a work of art.

My favourite racing game as of 27/10/2022!!!!!!!!! Visual presentation is outstanding and the optimism/character development made the game for me.

Cool and aesthetic. I like the kiwis, though exploring around the worlds gets a little tiresome after a while

Game rocks. Thank you, game.

Pretty alright, though nowhere near as good as the first game. The spectacle and bizarre atmosphere that it tries to insist on only serves to make the experience of playing through the game more dull and uninteresting

Bad, boring and not funny. Ending sucks my toes and so does bullet time battle. The more absurd they make the trials, the less interesting they end up being to go through, especially when the answer is immediately obvious.